The Great Evacuation
PZ Myers points to an article detailing a new Focus on the Family apologetics seminar.
The article cites the statistical range of 50-85% as the number of “kids involved in church groups [who] will abandon their faith during their first year in college.” FOTF’s response has been to ditch the trampolines, magicians, and paintball ranges (the organizer’s words, not mine) for a hardcore apologetics seminar.
First, that statistic is incredible (if true; the article doesn’t source it). An obvious question is why? Is it the intellectual influence or the cultural one or both? As much as I’d like to credit the former, it more likely the cultural influence. The chances of courses seriously challenging the beliefs of a majority of first-years seems improbable. Many of them will not be in disciplines where religion is even discussed (i.e., business, engineering, music, computer science, etc.), and in the few disciplines where critiques of religion might be relevant, first year courses tend to be pretty tame.
Its more likely the unbearable weight of freedom. Avoiding sex, profanity, and alcohol seems to be more central to church youth culture than any theological beliefs. And if you are repeatedly conditioned to only see purity and Christianity simultaneously, its easy to start equating the two. Hence, youthful indiscretions can only mean a complete rejection of God, faith, and the Bible, right?
Second, while I applaud trading in the fun and hip factors, is apologetics really the answer? If I am correct in my suspicion that its the cultural influence, then apologetics seems like the wrong tool for the job (then again, if all you’ve got is a hammer…). And furthermore, its not like there is a scarcity of apologetic training available for youths at secular colleges. Even since Josh McDowell teamed up with Bill Bright, kids have had an endless supply of “evidence” demanding their, and their peers’, verdict.
To me, the solution is a lot simpler. Christian universities. At least then you can deter the effect: “50-80% of Christian college graduates will abandon their faith in the first year of the workforce.”
This, I think, is a really important point and one that’s easy to miss. The youth culture puts such a strong emphasis on separatism that it breeds lots of of “We don’t do X, and that makes us different” fetishes. Those kinds of arbitrary lines in the sand are profoundly difficult to maintain outside the fishbowl, so to speak. And they have a tendency to drag the rest of the belief structure down with them when they crumble away.
For me, pursuing apologetics vigorously was the path that led to the real shakeup. I think almost anyone who is passionate enough, patient enough, and honest about what they grapple with will come to the conclusion that things aren’t as cut and dried as the McDowell/Bright/Dobson/etc school would like. Even Christian theology is not that clear cut.
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Submitted by Eaton on Mon, 08/13/2007 - 19:18.My mind is stretching to anchor a story I heard: I think it was told by Tony Campolo in Adventures in the Missing the Point. Basically, a student came into his office saying he no longer believed in God or the Bible, and Campolo was like, Oh yeah? When did you start sleeping with your girlfriend?
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Submitted by Clark on Mon, 08/13/2007 - 20:12.Fair warning: Bringing up PZ Myers is one sure-fire way to bring my blood to a complete boil. I have no taste for Christians who are so devoted to their religious life that they proclaim any academic thought verboten. Nor do I have any taste for academics who are so devoted to their academic thought that they proclaim any religious life verboten. PZ Myers revels in thinking people like me, who value the Christian faith AND scientific reasoning, are wasting our time. So any time you say “PZ Myers points to…” my first instinct is going to be to dismiss anything you are saying beyond that point COMPLETELY out of hand.
But, now that I’ve cooled down and I’m thinking rationally again: why in God’s name are we even talking about this? “At least 50 percent — and possibly as much as 85 percent — of kids involved in church groups will abandon their faith during their first year in college”? Really? Where are these studies? I was just talking to the campus ministries director at our cross-town rivals yesterday, and he was citing studies on his campus (which is hardly a bastion of conservatism) that showed 75% of his college’s students had felt their faith had been seriously tested during their time there; of those students, fully 80% had felt their faith was STRONGER leaving college than when they started it. I can probably get some even more solid numbers from him if pressed, but he was talking very passionately about students, when their faith is challenged directly and honestly, emerging with DEEPER faith, not lost faith.
Now, is it PZ Myers freaking out over these bull numbers, or Focus On The Family, or both? And more to the point: why is NEITHER party asking for citation? Especially PZ Myers, the guy who values rational scientific thought but has failed in the most fundamental criticism a scientist can do?
Like I said: watch it with bringing up PZ Myers.
(Please also note: I entered college as an atheist. A irrational, Methodist-hating, emotional lousy excuse for an atheist, but an atheist nonetheless. I left college as an evangelical, and while the workforce (and the Christian workforce in particular) has forced me to ask questions, I am still an evangelical. So this does go both ways.)
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Submitted by Pearson on Wed, 08/15/2007 - 03:36.Heh. Well my first introduction to PZ Myers was only a month ago (on bloggingheads) where he is reasonable enough for me to want to read his blog. I guess I am late to the party and missed all the drama.
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Submitted by Clark on Wed, 08/15/2007 - 16:17.Post new comment